Tough Transition To Playoffs For Sun

If this was a race in transition against the Atlanta Dream, the Sun dropped the baton at the key part of the race. "We struggled in the key areas you need to succeed at in a playoff game," Sun coach Mike Thibault said. The Dream, as physical as they are swift, took the challenge of beating the Sun in half-court to heart, pounding Connecticut off the boards, getting scoring from post pillars, Erika DeSouza and Sancho Lyttle, to supplement their diverse perimeter attack. And ultimately, it was Atlanta's speed, finally unleashed over the last five minutes, that killed the Sun. The Dream won Game 1 of the best-of-three Eastern Conference semifinals, 89-84. The teams play Game 2 Sunday in Atlanta where the Sun will face elimination.

The Dream had five players in double figures led by guard Lindsay Harding, who scored 21, including 10 in the fourth quarter when the Dream wiped out a five-point lead (68-63) over the final 9:10 with their star, Angel McCoughtry, on the bench with five fouls. "We were playing for our lives and we came out with the win," Lyttle (13 points, 11 rebounds) said. The Sun was led by Asjha Jones and Renee Montomgery, who both scored 16. The Dream outrebounded the Sun, 47-29, getting 14 on the offensive boards. "When you give a team more chances to score, its hard to compete," Montgomery said.

The Dream had five players in double figures led by guard Lindsay
Harding, who scored 21, including 10 in the fourth quarter when the
Dream wiped out a five-point lead (68-63) over the final 9:10 with their
star, Angel McCoughtry, on the bench with five fouls.
"We were playing for our lives and we came out with the win," Lyttle (13 points, 11 rebounds) said.
The Sun was led by Asjha Jones and Renee Montomgery, who both scored 16.
The Dream outrebounded the Sun, 47-29, getting 14 on the offensive boards.
"When you give a team more chances to score, its hard to compete," Montgomery said.
The Dream also made 27 of 33 at the free throw line, the most ever against the Sun in a playoff game. The Sun
was 20 of 21. And they outscored the Sun, 17-2, on fast break points.
"When we turned it over (14 times), when we took a bad shot (28 of
72), it turned into a layup or a foul [for the Dream]," Thibault added.
The Sun were leading 68-63 with 9:10 when they received a huge and
unaccustomed break. McCoughty was sent to the bench with her fifth foul.
"I have to give Connecticut credit," Dream coach Marynell Meadors
said. "They really put a defense on us tonight that caused us some
issues."
But it didn't solve them all. In McCoughtry's place was veteran Izzy Castro Marques, one of the league's top streak shooters.
"We had to pull together and make for the points Angel couldn't give
us," Lyttle said. "We we heard they [the crowd] was cheering when she
had five fouls, we all turned on another switch."
Within three meetings, Castro Marques made two threes to give the Dream a 72-70 lead with 5:55 to play.
"Angel said, 'don't put me back in, they are doing so well out there,'" Meadors said.
The Sun led 41-39 at the half and both teams were having their
problems from the field. The Dream shot 16 of 44. But the balls bouncing
off the iron just deepened Connecticut's frustration because Atlanta
was grabbing them.
"The biggest part of the game," Meadors said.
Consider the job the Sun did on McCoughtry, their nemesis. She came
into the game averaging 28.7 against the Sun over the last two seasons.
She had only four in the first half (1 of 7), one on an offensive
rebound, two on free throws. She ended with 16 points.
But the Sun were having their own problems. Joens and Lawson, two of
their foremost weapons, did score their first points until late in the
half, consecutive hoops [Lawson's was a three] that gave the Sun a 37-31
lead with 3:13 to play. And Jones and Charles combined to shoot 4 of
20.
The Sun took a 20-18 lead into the first quarter, a terrible shooting
quarter at that. The teams exchanged points for more than six minutes at
the start until Lindsay Harding's basket gave the Dream the first-four
point run at a 12-10 lead with 3:41 to play.